Quick Tip: natural rust inhibitor

After sharing my recent post about rust removal, a friend who works with metal informed me that, while lemon juice and salt might have removed the rust from my cheese graters they would also expose the metal and make it rust again and faster.  He suggested that I oil them to add some protection.

Between my friend and Google, I found that it's best to use food safe oils in the kitchen (for what should be obvious reasons).

So, here's what I did:

I laid out a towel over my workspace
and gathered my materials
(food safe oil [I used olive], a washcloth and the stuff i'm trying to protect)...

...I put a few drops of olive oil onto the washcloth...

...I dripped oil right onto the smaller hard-to-get-into areas...

...and buffed it in...

...then I wiped off the excess oil with a clean cotton cloth...

So shiny!

Do you have any tricks up your sleeve to get rid of/prevent rust?

Comment and share your knowledge if you do!

Natural rust removal...

I recently discovered a new-to-me YouTuber, Melissa Maker and her channel "Clean My Space"  thanks to one of my "old favorites" ("Organized Clutterbug") mentioning her in a video about natural cleaning.  Of course, I've spent most of my time over the past two days watching TONS of her videos!

This morning, I came across this one: "Clean My Space" - "Shine Your Flatware & Glassware | Day 5 of The 12 Days Of Clean!"  In this video, she goes over basic shining, but what really caught my attention was when she started talking about removing rust from flatware.

I have a couple of vintage cheese graters that are horribly rusted, but they look so neat that I can't bear to part with them (I only show the circular one here, as that was the rustier of the two)...

Note: none of these photos have been edited more than cropping (and text on one), I didn't want a filter to mess with how the rust looked.

This is how I cleaned them:

I started with my rusty grater...

Then I gathered my tools:

my (kitchen) cleaning toothbrush, 

a clean rag, a bowl with equal parts salt and lemon juice

and a towel or paper towel to work on.

I got some of the salt/lemon juice mixture on the toothbrush...

...and scrubbed it all over.

Then I buffed it out with the rag,

using the salt/lemon juice mixture as needed.

After washing and *thoroughly* towel drying.

NOT BAD!

Now, I will say that I probably still won't be using them for cooking,

but they look a lot prettier hanging on my wall without significantly less rust.

Check out my post about preventing rust from coming back once you've removed it!

Do you have any tricks up your sleeve to get rid of/prevent rust?

Comment and share your knowledge if you do!

More natural house cleaning...

Thanks to Hulu Plus, I have a slight obsession with an Aussie show called "Lush House" (you can watch full episodes here).  I swear the host, Shannon Lush, is a flippin' genius.  Who knew you could disinfect with lavender oil?  ...or tea tree oil?  I didn't, so I'm gonna go ahead and assume that you didn't either.  I really want to check out all of Shannon Lush's books now!

I also discovered an amazing resource for family friendly, eco-friendly and budget-friendly cleaning.  Howtocleanthings.com helped me seriously decrease the nastiness of a rust stain in my kitchen sink (which was left by a metal thing that the people who lived here before us used to protect the bottom of the sink)....  I think that, with another treatment or two, it should be completely gone soon!

So, here are a few things that I've tested personally and learned really do work!:

• Lemon oil works wonders.  It not only smells good, it keeps bugs away and can work as a deterrent for cats who like to make nasties on the floor (I'm lookin' at *you*, Fluffy!)
• Clove oil makes my house smell like I just baked Christmas ham and it acts as a mold inhibitor!  Taking Miss Lush's mold spray one step further, I've made an after shower spray for our bathrooms that's easy and non-toxic, so the kids can spray the shower down when they're done!
• Fill a spray bottle halfway with white vinegar, add two or three drops of clove oil and top it off with water.  Give it a shake before you spray it!  Easy peasy.
• Cream of tartar can not only be used for baking delicious goodies, but it can also be used to clean aluminum and rust (as I mentioned earlier)

Do you make any of you own natural cleaners or do you have any "weird" cleaning tricks?

Homemade natural cleaners...

...I've been sharing about making these on my personal Facebook page over the past few months.  When I first started making them I was a little unsure about how well they would work, but I knew I wanted to use natural cleaners and buying them at the store was breaking the bank.  After using them for a few months, I've grown to love them.  It's also helpful that you can make so many different cleaners with only a few ingredients!

What you'll need:

• Borax
• Arm & Hammer washing soda
• bar soap of your choice
• white vinegar
• rubbing alcohol
• filtered or distilled water
• essential oil of you choice, citrus scents work well (optional)

from left to right, top to bottom: water, borax, washing soda,

rubbing alcohol, vinegar, bar soap, all natural essential oil

What you can make with these few ingredients:

• dishwasher detergent
• dishwasher rinse aid
• general cleaner
• glass cleaner
• laundry detergent
• fabric softener
• mop water

from left to right: vinegar, fabric softener, laundry detergent,

glass cleaner, general cleaner

You *will* get a lot for you money!  I promise!  ....now let's get on with how to make them...

Dishwasher Detergent

Mix equal parts borax and washing soda.  Make sure you mix them well and get out all of the lumps of washing soda - I do this in a zipper freezer bag.  Use about 1 Tbsp per load.

Dishwasher Rinse Aid

Fill the rinse aid thingie in your dishwasher with vinegar.  It's like magic.

General (Almost) All-purpose Cleaner

Fill a spray bottle with half vinegar and half purified water.  Give it a shake to mix it all up.  The vinegar disinfects and the smell goes away quickly.

Glass Cleaner

Fill a spray bottle halfway with rubbing alcohol, add one Tbsp. vinegar and fill it up the rest of the way with purified water.  Shake it up.  

Laundry Detergent

Mix one cup borax and one cup washing soda.  Using a fine cheese grater, grate a bar of soap into the mixture.  Use about 1/8 c. for each load of laundry...  do it like this:  Start your washer with HOT water (you can change it to the temp you want in a minute).  Add your detergent directly under the water while it's starting to fill.  Give it a couple of seconds so the detergent will dissolve a little bit.  Change the water temp if you like.  Proceed as usual.

NOTE: When you grate your soap, do it *slowly* and *carefully*  ...I cannot stress enough that you need to pay attention while you're doing this.  I grated off part of a knuckle the first time I did this.  It was a lot easier the second time, since I knew I had to take it slowly.  

Fabric Softener

Mix equal parts water and vinegar.  Add a few drops of essential oil, if you like - only enough so that you can just barely smell it through the vinegar.  The amount that you add will depend on the scent that you choose.  Now, you can either add it during the rinse cycle, or you can keep in in a tub and leave some cotton fabric squares soaking in it.  When you need a fabric softener sheet, just wring out a sheet and toss it in the dryer with your wet clothes.  The vinegar helps to break down any leftover detergent residue and deodorizes as well.  

Mop Water

You can add a splash of vinegar to hot water when mopping most types of flooring.  This is actually how most flooring companies recommend that you clean hardwood floors.

...I have gotten all of my ingredients at stores like Walmart or the dollar store.  I also picked up all of my spray bottles, tubs, measuring cups and the cheese grater at the dollar store.  You can expect to spend around $15-20 on everything the first time you make it all.  After that, it'll only be a few dollars at a time to keep individual ingredients stocked.